How to Know Yourself Better

    Most of us believe that we know ourselves better than anyone in this world. But a lot of people are still strangers to themselves. Why?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}For a person to have a well-lived life, it is important that he know himself good. If you are one of those who are striving to know yourself better, these steps will guide you.

    Take a moment to write down things that you know "very good" about yourself - your interests, likes, dislikes, preferences, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, fears, dreams, etc.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}By creating a list of your personal attributes that you are familiar with, you are keeping yourself in touch with yourself.

    Take personality and psychological tests. This is another way to know yourself better. The Internet has a rich source of free online personality and psychological assessments and tests.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Know yourself better by understanding people's perceptions about you.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Sometimes, you think you know yourself enough, but other people who see you from their point of view can offer you some insights how you act and get understood by others. Be careful, however, to balance both perceptions to come up with an objective view of yourself.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It's a lifetime process. Everyday you will be given new insights about yourself. Writing a journal will help you keep track of these new discoveries. Maintaining that hunger to know yourself better will make you more self-aware, opening up new opportunities to enrich your life.

A. Keep on learning who you are.

B. Remember that you are a worthy person.

C. By answering them, you will understand yourself better.

D. The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to love yourself.

E. Reflect on these qualities and find out how they impact your overall life.

F. Pay attention to what your family, friends, coworkers, etc. observe and say about you.

G. Not everyone is courageous enough to travel the path within to achieve a better self-understanding.

House Sitting

    In many countries of the world people do what is called house sitting. It means that if owners of the house are going away, they want someone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets while they are away.

    In Australia, many people travel. After people retire, they might buy a van and travel all over the country. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason, they might want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy. House sitters might have to care for pets. Also, quite a few people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I feel it is a great way of seeing the country, because you go and stay in a new city, get to meet new people, and have time to go sightseeing in a new area.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} There are websites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel, and by replying to the advertisement, you can make arrangements to go and look after their home. There are some requirements to be a house sitter. You must be a trusted person, so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything. You must be able to go when the house owner wants you to go, so you need lots of free time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You need to be good with pets, able to care for cats and dogs, or other pets they may have.

    Some house sitting Jobs are just for a few days or a couple of weeks while the house owner have a short holiday. Sometimes it is for much longer. We have had one house sit for six months, while the home owner travelled to Europe.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Then you can travel to many different countries and stay there. One of the important things to get are references from the home owners where you have stayed. A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthy and have looked after their home well. You can show these letters to prospective house sitting Jobs and they know you will do a good job.

A. I have done house sitting many times.

B. Thousands of people do this all the time.

C. It is also possible to do house sitting in other countries.

D. Generally you have many opportunities to get a house sitting job.

E. You must take a little care over what your description says about you.

F. This is an international house sitting service for all city and country areas.

G. You must have a good car, so you can travel to different parts of the country.

    Americans spend a lot of money in their daily lives. Working people spend money on transportation to and from work and on various expenses throughout the day, Americans enjoy shopping and buy many things that they need and want, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They buy sports equipment, go to movies and do many things that cost money.

    However, many Americans don't pay cash or write checks for these things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Credit cards are small, rectangular plastic cards. It is very convenient to carry them about. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}When the customer buys something at a store, he shows his card at the store. This permits the store to charge the bank for the customer's purchase. The bank collects all the charges for each customer, Then once a month the bank requires the customer to pay the charges for that month. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It allows the customer to pay for the charges in several payments over a period of time.

    However, the bank requires the customer to pay interest(利息)on the unpaid part of the charges. In this way the bank allows customers to buy things they cannot afford at one time. People can use the card to buy what they want and pay for it over a period of time, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It brings great benefits to the rich.

B. Banks give these cards to their customers.

C. They spend a lot of money on entertainment.

D. They also do not need to carry a lot of money.

E. People may spend less money in this way.

F. More and more Americans pay for things with credit cards.

G. The bank does not force the customer to pay the full amount.

How to Be a Good Tourist

    We travel not only for work but also for fun and learning. New restaurants, galleries, temples and new architecture…These places are homes for people like us who live and work there. How would you want visitors to behave in your own home? Think about it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are many ways of doing this without sacrificing our own holiday.

    Do your homework. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Guides will help you when you get to the site, but is that the best place to go? Is it popular only because the one-day tourist can see it easily or because it is really a worthwhile place to visit? You'd better check it out.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Don't go to your hotels for meals. Walk around, even if in the streets closest to your hotel. Eat in local restaurants. Talk to the locals. Learn a few in the local language and use them. You will surely get a smile from the hotel staff and street sellers.

    Help preserve the sites. Most of the sites you visit may be visited by millions of people a year, so care needs to be taken to allow others to enjoy them as well. Some of these monuments are so old and fragile that they are sensitive to the touch of hands or bags and shows. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This way, you don't encourage the use of those plastic bags that fly all over many sites.

    And here's the big one—good manners are nearly universal. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If that doesn't sound like you，then give the world a break and stay home.

How to Plan a Holiday Trip

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Whether it's to grandma's house, a family reunion or simply a holiday getaway, these yearly road trips can often be the source of dread and stress. The thought of being trapped in the car with restless children or the possibility of car trouble along the way is enough to make anyone consider staying home. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Plan out the route for your car trip. If you're planning on driving to your holiday destination, a little planning can help make your trip easy and uneventful. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Remember, it's likely that you won't be the only person on the road during the holidays, and traffic is always a factor. Alternate routes or shortcuts can help reduce time spent in traffic jams and get you to your destination sooner. This information can also come in handy in case of road construction or other situations that might block your primary route.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Although traveling by air can be quick and convenient, it can also be much more expensive. Start planning your trip early to take advantage of advance purchase discounts and avoid sold out flights. Many airlines become extremely busy during the holidays so booking in advance can also help ensure that you get the flights that you want. High traffic destinations such as New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta can be extremely crowded during the holidays. If you have the option, consider booking your flight to a nearby airport and renting a car for the short drive to your destination.

    Consider your luggage needs. If you're traveling by car, the issue of luggage is only important with regards to the amount of room needed. Before you begin packing, think about how many people will be in your vehicle and how much room they will need to travel comfortably. This could affect the number of bags that you can take along. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Not only is the possibility of lost luggage an issue, but most airlines now charge extra for checked baggage.

    For a family of four, carrying a few bags each could result in several hundred dollars worth of baggage fees during your trip. Try to pack as lightly as possible.

A. As an alternative to driving or flying, check into the possibility of traveling by train.

B. Plan your trip to avoid peak travel times.

C. Luckily, with a little planning, these situations can be avoided.

D. Book airline tickets.

E. Each year, millions of people load up the family car and set out on a holiday trip,

F. For traveling by air, the number of bags that you take is a much bigger concern.

G. Consider your starting point and desired destination, and investigate several possible routes.

Why Is Sorting Important When Recycling?

    We all agree that we should recycle more at home, in the office or when out and about. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Consequently, they can be collected and taken to the right place for recycling. This is what the process of sorting allows us to do.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}And the effective sorting needs to happen first, in our own home and second, in sorting plants to which waste is collected. When you put a plastic bottle in the right recycling bag or bin, you are helping sort recyclables so that the right material can be fed into the right recycling process. If sorting does not happen, a lot of recyclable materials can end up in landfills. It will lead to valuable resources lost from our economy.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}For instance, in Brussels consumers put plastic packaging, cans and beverage cartons in blue bags designed for recyclable packaging; paper in yellow bags for recycling; and glass needs to be taken to specific collection bins. Somewhat differently, in Vienna (Austria), citizens can expect their paper, metal, glass and plastic to be separately collected in different weeks of the year.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Once recyclable materials are collected from your home, they are further sorted in specialized facilities which ensure the quality of the recycling process. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Traditionally, sorting has been done either manually with workers sorting what can be recycled and picking out the materials to be discarded or mechanically. Today, however, new sorting technologies are being developed in order to speed up the process of sorting but to also cause better results. Exciting technologies using magnets or optical systems are being used to effectively sort materials so more of it can be recycled.

A. For effective recycling we need effective sorting.

B. Packaging at work is the first step towards recycling.

C. This is where different sorting techniques come into play.

D. So citizens need to be aware of their local collection system

E. Collection systems can be very different from country to country.

F. The rest was landfilled or burned even though they could have been recycled or reused.

G. But for materials to be recycled, they first need to find their way to the right waste stream.